People over process
As leaders, we must often help people understand why something won’t work or why they can’t take action on a specific idea. In a perfect world, our people would understand what great innovation looks like; how to push a boundary in a productive way; what would cause too much trouble; and what is simply a bad idea.
As a leader, you have a better grasp on the big picture than the people you lead. And, as a leader, you have access to information and insights that others don’t.
Often, the challenge is to figure out how to help each person understand what you already do so that they, too, can make good decisions and innovate productively.
Too often, leaders address this challenge in counterproductive ways: quoting policies and giving vague answers; being defensive when a new idea comes forward they did not think of; or, worst of all, making the person feel silly for speaking up or asking a question. Not only do these behaviours stifle your team development efforts, they make you look like a jerk.
We believe in “people over process”. In training people and communicating things to them, it is most important that we act with kindness and consideration, and that we show we care about each person as an individual. This is how we keep the lines of communication open and we develop our people most effectively.
At IBEX Payroll, our first two core values are:
- Show care in all you do
- Take your work seriously
We believe that caring about people is the most important thing. That is why the “care” value comes before the “work seriously” value. We think this is the best formula for developing people and it has the side benefit of delivering on another of our core values: Don’t be a jerk!
People give up on leaders, not on organizations. An effective way to have people give up on you as a leader is to not treat them as a person worthy of your time as you try to help them navigate the waters in your organization.
Put your people before your process.